Today’s Night Thread song is “Little Girl Blue” by Richard Rogers and Lionel Hartz from some musical starring Jimmy Durante and an elephant that I have never seen and hope wasn’t problematic. The song has been covered by a lot of people but today we’re focusing on two: Nina Simone and Janis Joplin.

(The piano at the beginning of Simone’s version echoes the tune of “Good King Wenceslaus,” a song which references the Feast of Stephen, or December 26th, which is today, which is how we ended up with this theme for a Night Thread ::confetti::)

Anyhoo, “Little Girl Blue” lent its name to Simone’s 1959 debut album, and her version of the song is deep and contemplative and wonderful:

Joplin cites Simone as her inspiration for covering the song, although both the lyrics and arrangement are modified to make a version that’s a little less jazz and a little more rock n’ roll. There’s a studio cut on Joplin’s album I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama! (1969), but I’m posting this different live version from 1970 because just listen to it:

Anyhoo, these ladies are pretty great at singing. Give ’em a listen if you have a chance!

Happy Night Threading! (And also Feast of Stephen I guess!)